I am in the process of buying an Audi A3 Sportback. My big question is new or nearly new?
Buying second hand from a dealer seems very expensive compared to buying a new one from a broker. I have been looking at an 18 month old, 17k on the clock for £19000. I can buy a similarly speced one new for £21,500.
My other question is can these brokers be trusted? Will I be waiting 6 months for the car and get it in the wrong colour? Is the best option to go to the dealer with an internet price to get them to match it? Would Audi even consider this: my experience so far with them is that they don?t seem particularly interested in my business!
This is my first car purchase and I am baffled, please help
Edited by garelang on 19/02/2008 at 20:21
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The reason I have bought two new Audi A3 Sportbacks is due to high second hand prices. The first used one I looked at was priced the same as a new one, but of course I wouldn't have had to wait for it.
My local dealer matched an internet brokers price - about 10% discount.
Which model are you looking at?
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Hi daveyjp
I am looking at a 2.0 TDI SE STronic. TDI because of the MPG figures, automatic for round town driving (and for my wife)
Which is your local dealer, I may try them instead!
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If it's a 140PS same as my first one, I now have a 170PS. 35+ mpg round town, mid 40s to 50 on a decent run.
S tronic is a 'marmite' system. Some love it, some hate it, very few people are undecided. Needless to say I think it's a great system. I had a 2.0TDi manual as a courtesy car and hated every mile I drove in it.
First one had a couple of problems - failed gear selector (wouldn't stay in reverse), all down to a circlip and a climate control sensor failed - both fixed under warranty.
Current car has just had a new steering rack (8,000 miles) - known fault on A3s and A4s.
Other than that I am very happy with the car. I tried Leeds, Wakefield, Bradford and Huddersfield Audi for my first one, Bradford gave me the best service so I went back there for my second.
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We bought an A3 (hatch) through DriveTheDeal recently for my partner; ordered October '07, delivered December '07 bang on schedule and a good discount. They just passed the order on to the Audi Dealer - all contact was with the dealer, and the deposit/balance was paid direct to the dealer. All in all a very easy transaction.
In comparison my A4 came from a different broker (buynewcars4less); again a very competitive price, but I had no direct contact with the dealer. The car did arrive to spec and at the right price, but was around 4 weeks late (and 4 weeks later than the A3, even though both were built in the same week according to Audi...)
HTH
Peter
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Thanks for your input on this - I am still making my mind up
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I bought a A3 sportback 170 tdi s-line quattro through Autobytel, when I quoted the price to our local dealer he matched it because Autobytel and the dealers were owned by the same parent company. This meant a good deal on price and good service from a dealer I trusted.
Like you I looked at nearly new and there was only about £1500 in the price of a 3/4 month old one without all the features I wanted. In the end a price difference of about £500 when I added the retro fit extras meant it was a no-brainer to buy new.
Placed the order at the end of June 07 and received the car at the dealer on 27 Sept 07.
Issues so far - Ipod connector failed intermittently and drivers one touch window not working - both replaced under warranty.
Getting about 35-40 around town and about 40-45 on a decent motorway run, just clocked 10000 miles yesterday. Happy with ownership so far would like more mpg but balanced against the extra power and quattro it's well worth it !!
I guess the only thing I would have is the auto box but as you probably know the choice is auto or quattro - not both. Previously I had the SE 140 tdi - again a good car with 65k trouble free miles, 170 CR is a lot quieter than the 140 PD engine as well.
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"one touch window not working "
There is an easy fix for this which doesn't need a dealer trip - well one so they can show you!
If it fails again hold button in to open window fully and when it is open keep the button pressed for 2-3 seconds. This should reset the system - mine has a done it about 4 times and on resettgin you cna hear the realy clicking in teh doora s it resets.
170 isn't CR - it's still PD with a CR ignition system.
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Has anyone got any experience of the new 1.9TDI sportback with 119g/km of CO2?
Our company has this available on a fully serviced lease for £120 a month which seem slike a very good deal.
tinyurl.com/2ez7zc
Thanks
Jonathan
Edited by Jonathan {p} on 26/02/2008 at 16:01
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For the sake of £2.5k I'd have brand-new and have the extra 18 months warranty. Plus it is so nice to have a new car.
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This might work!
snipurl.com/20g76
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